at early daylight the next morning a servant tapped at edmund clarke's door with a message from doctor jay.
he found himself quite ill this morning, and must go home at once. would mr. clarke grant him a few parting words?
mr. clarke was up and dressed. he had just said good-by to his wife and roma, who had taken an early train to boston.
he went at once to doctor jay's room, finding him seated by the window, looking ill and aged from a bad night.
"good morning, my dear old friend. you look ill, and i fear you have not rested well."
"no; my night was troubled by ghastly dreams. i could scarcely wait till morning to bid you good-by."
"i am very sorry for this, for i had counted on a pleasant day with you. my wife and roma are gone to boston for the day, leaving their regrets for you, and kindly wishes to find you here on their return."
[pg 227]
the doctor started with surprise, exclaiming:
"it must have been an unexpected trip."
edmund clarke then explained about roma's midnight sufferings from toothache, necessitating a visit to her dentist.
"my wife would not have left me, but she felt sure i should not be lonely, having you for company," he added regretfully.
"my dear friend, i should like to remain with you, and, rather than disappoint you, i will wait until the late afternoon train; but—all my friendship for you could not tempt me to spend another night at cliffdene!"
"you amaze me, doctor! this is very strange! why do you look so pale and strange? why did you spend so uncomfortable a night, when i tried to surround you with every comfort?"
"you did, my dear friend, and every luxury besides—even a key to my door, which i forgot to use," returned doctor jay, so significantly that edmund clarke reddened, exclaiming:
"it is not possible you have been robbed! i believe that all my servants are honest!"
he thought that the old physician must be losing his senses when he answered, with terrible gravity:
[pg 228]
"nevertheless, i was nearly robbed of my life last night!"
"great heavens!"
doctor jay's brow was beaded with damp as he loosened his cravat and collar, and pointed to his bared neck.
edmund clarke leaned forward, and saw on the old man's throat some dark purple discolorations, like finger prints.
"have you in your household any persons subject to vicious aberrations of mind?" demanded doctor jay.
"no one!" answered his startled host, and he was astounded when his guest replied:
"nevertheless, a fiend in human form entered this room last night under cover of the darkness and attempted to murder me by vicious strangling!"
"heavens! is this so?"
"you have the evidence!" exclaimed the physician, pointing to his bared throat with the print of the strangler's fingers.
"this is most mysterious!" ejaculated edmund clarke, in wonder and distress, while the physician continued:
"last night i retired and slept soundly until[pg 229] after midnight, when i was aroused by the horrible sensation of steely fingers gripping my throat with deadly force. vainly gasping for my failing breath, i struggled with the intruder, who held on with a maniacal strength, panting with fury as i clutched in my arms a form that i immediately knew to be that of a woman, soft, warm, palpitating, though her strength was certainly equal to that of a man. we grappled in a terrible struggle, and i clutched my fingers in her long hair, causing her such pain that, with a stifled moan, she released my throat, struck me in the face, and fled before i could regain my senses, that deserted me at the critical moment."
"this is most mysterious, most shocking! no wonder you are anxious to leave cliffdene, where you so nearly met your death. but this must be sifted to the bottom at once, and the lunatic identified, for it could be no other than a lunatic. i will have the whole household summoned. we will question every servant closely!" cried clarke eagerly, turning to ring the bell.
but doctor jay stopped him, saying:
"wait till i question you on the subject. have you in your employ a woman with red hair?"
"what a question! but, no. my women servants[pg 230] are all gray-haired or black-haired, with one exception. that is roma's maid, a pretty little blonde, with the palest flaxen curls."
he looked inquiringly at the doctor, who replied:
"after my struggle was over and i was able to light a lamp, i found entangled in my fingers some threads of hair—beautiful long strands of ruddy hair, copperish red in the full light."
he took an envelope from his breast, and drew from it a ruddy strand of long hair, holding it up to the light of the window, where it shone with a rich copper tint.
"my god!" groaned edmund clarke.
"you recognize the hair?" cried doctor jay.
"it is roma's hair!" was the anguished answer.
"i thought so!"
"you thought so! is the girl, then, a lunatic, or a fiend? and what motive could she have to take your life—an old man, who has never harmed her in his blameless life?" cried the host, in consternation.
edmund clarke had never been confronted with such a terrible problem of crime in his life.[pg 231] his face paled to an ashen hue, and his eyes almost glared as he stared helplessly at his friend.
"i have a theory!" cried doctor jay.
"what is it?"
"the girl must have overheard our conversation last night."
"impossible!"
"why?"
mr. clarke revolved the matter silently in his mind for a moment, then answered:
"well, of course, not impossible, but quite improbable."
"is there not a curtained alcove or anteroom next the library?"
"yes; but why should the girl have suspected us—why concealed herself there to listen?"
"heaven only knows, but it is possible that some accident brought her there—perhaps an errand of some kind—maybe to get medicine from me for her aching tooth. she caught a few words that aroused her curiosity, kept silence, and listened, overhearing the truth about herself."
"it must indeed have happened that way!"
"and the shock drove her mad," continued doctor jay. "her resentment flamed against[pg 232] me for knowing so much of her low origin. in her first senseless fury she sought my life."
"it is a terrible situation!" cried his friend, and both were silent for a moment, gazing at the lock of hair as if it had been a writhing serpent; then clarke continued:
"it is a wonder the fiend incarnate did not seek my life also, thus removing from her path the two who were plotting to oust her from her position and reinstate the real heiress!"
but even as he spoke he remembered last night's accident when he had been aroused by the clink of breaking glass and found roma in hysterics by his bedside.
he told doctor jay the whole story, adding:
"i could not imagine how the bottle came there. it was certainly not on the stand when i retired to bed, and when i read the label this morning, it ran: 'poison—arsenic.'"
"i should like to see the bottle."
"come with me," returned mr. clarke, leading the way to his room.
fortunately the chambermaid had not disturbed anything yet, so the fragments of the bottle and glass were found upon the table.
"it is a fearfully strong solution of arsenic,[pg 233] and i fancy she intended to pour it into your sedative, so that in case you drank it you would be silenced forever," affirmed the doctor.
they could only stare aghast at each other, feeling that providence had surely preserved their lives last night.
"she was nervous in the dark, jostling the bottle against the glass, breaking both, and thus defeating her murderous game! the toothache was probably a clever feint to explain her presence in your room," continued the old doctor, who had a wonderful insight into men and motives, and seemed to read roma like an open book.
a sudden terror seized on mr. clarke.
"she has taken my darling wife away with her! what if she means to murder her, too? i must follow them on the next train and separate them forever!" he cried frantically.
"i believe you are right, my friend."
after further thought and consultation, they decided that, although roma and mrs. clarke must be immediately separated, it would not be prudent to reveal the truth to her yet, for the shock would be sufficient to dethrone her reason. therefore it would not be prudent to arrest roma yet for her attempted crimes.
[pg 234]
"we have just time enough for a hasty breakfast before catching the next train. come!" cried edmund clarke, leading the way from the room.
in the corridor they encountered dolly dorr mincing along, with her yellow head on one side like a pert canary; and her master, stopping her, exclaimed:
"your mistress had a bad time with the toothache, i fear, last night, dolly!"
dolly, dropping a curtsy, answered slyly:
"indeed she did, sir, and the medicine she got when she went after doctor jay didn't help her one bit, for she walked the floor groaning and sobbing all night."
they glared at her in amazement, while she continued, with pretended sympathy:
"she would not let me sit up with her, poor thing, but i was stealing back to her room to see if i could help her any when i met her flying out of doctor jay's room, and she said she had gone for a remedy for the toothache, and he burned her gums with iodine and almost set her crazy with the pain. then she scolded me for being up so late, and sent me back to my room to stay."
she gave doctor jay a quizzical glance from her saucy blue eyes, but his face was entirely noncommittal as he replied:
"i am very sorry i burned her so badly with the iodine, but i thought it would give the quickest relief."
"well, she has gone to a dentist in boston now, and he may soon help the pain," said edmund clarke, passing on, while dolly dorr muttered suspiciously:
"there were mysterious carryings on in this house last night, for sure!"
